Online Archives

By John F. Kutsko
Newscope

The United Methodist will launch a new media campaign in 2009 aimed at getting people to "Rethink Church." The campaign is designed to redefine church as a 365-days-a-year experience and to "encourage a global spiritual dialogue," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top staff executive of UM Communications.

"What we're going to try and get across is the idea that ‘church' doesn't just happen on Sundays, and ‘church' isn't just a building," said Kerry Graham, president of Nashville-based Bohan Advertising/Marketing, which developed the "Rethink Church" campaign.

The target audience for the new campaign will be 18- to 34-year-olds. Cutting-edge communication tools will include everything from iTunes and text messaging to YouTube. "Rethink Church" is envisioned as more than just a media campaign or awareness campaign, developers say. The goal is for it to become a movement, with results measured in terms of lives touched and transformed.

"Rethink Church" will serve as a creative addendum to the campaign "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors," launched in 2001. The original campaign, launched in September 2001, raised U.S. awareness of the church from 14 percent to 30 percent, Hollon said.